Automatic washer dual agitator system locking arrangement

ABSTRACT

A locking arrangement is provided for removably securing an outer or normal wash agitator to the inner or gentle wash agitator in a dual agitator system for a vertical axis automatic washer. The locking system comprises a pair of resilient fingers attached to the uppermost portion of the normal wash agitator, the fingers having detents on the free ends to be received in an annular groove formed on the outer surface of the gentle wash agitator for removably securing the agitators when they are properly coaxially arranged in operative position. The normal wash agitator further has a manually rotatable locking member with abutments corresponding to the resilient fingers, the locking member in a first position permitting the detents to deflect out of the annular grooves to allow removal of the normal wash agitator and in a second position to engage the resilient fingers so as to prevent the detents from deflecting from the annular groove effecting locking engagements of the agitators.

United States Patent 1191 Waugh et al.

[ 1 Apr. 23, 1974 AUTOMATIC WASHER DUAL AGITATOR SYSTEM LOCKING ARRANGEMENT [75] Inventors: Richard A. Waugh,Lo uisville, Ky.;

Jerry C.. Martin, Corydon, Ind.

[73] Assignee: General Electric Company,

Louisville, Ky.

22 Filed: Jan. 15, 1973 21 Appl.No.:323,527

[5 2] US. Cl. 68/4, 68/134 [51] Int. Cl D06f 13/02, D06f 39/00 .[58] Field of Search 68/4, 134, 17 A, 18 FA [56] 4' References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,927,449 3/1960 Gerhardt 68/4 3,132,500 5/1964 Bullock 68/134 x 3,64l,79l 2 1972 Wine et al. 68/4 3,648,486 311972 Rosinski et a]. 68/4 Primary ExaminerBilly J. Wilhite Assistant ExaminerPhilip R. Coe

[ 57] ABSTRACT A locking arrangement is provided for removably securing an outer or normal wash agitator to the inner or gentle wash agitator in a dual agitator system for a vertical axis automatic washer. The locking system comprises a pair of resilient fingers attached to the uppermost portion of the normal wash agitator, the fingers having detents on the free ends to be received in an annular groove formed on the outer surface of the gentle wash agitator for removably securing the agitators when they are properly coaxially arranged in op erative position. The normal wash agitator further has a manually rotatable lockingmember with abutments corresponding to the resilient fingers, the locking 5 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures 1 AUTOMATIC WASHER DUAL AGITATOR SYSTEM LOCKING ARRANGEMENT BACKGROUNDIOF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a locking arrangementor mechanism for removably-securing coaxial elements against actual displacement and in particular, a locking mechanism for removably securing a pair of coaxially nested agitators in-driving engagement in an automatic washing machine.-

The use of dual, coaxially nested agitators has been disclosed in the U. S. Pat. Nos. 2,927,449; 2,974,511; 2,974,510 Gerhardt. The Gerhardt patents do not, however, reveal a means for assuring that the outer agitator will remain in place over the inner agitator, not to rise upward under the influence of water and articles being washed.'-U. S. Pat. No. 3,641,79l-Wine et al. also reveals a washing machine having an outeragitator placed coaxially over an inneragitator, the latter providing a relativelygentle washing action, and the former, when placed over and driven by the inner agitator,

provides regular washing action. To maintain the outer agitator in place, a threaded stud is provided at the end of the drive shaft 'of the washing machine such that a cap member having a threaded bore may be threaded therein to hold either the inner agitator alone or the outer agitator over the inner agitator in position in driving engagement. If it is found desirable to remove the outer regular wash agitator in order to make use. of the relatively gentle washing action of the inner agitator, the cap member must first be unscrewed and removed from the shaft, the outer agitator removed and then the cap member re-threaded onto the shaft to maintain the inner agitator in its place.

It would be beneficial then to provide a locking mechanism for such a dual agitator system that would be self-contained within the agitators themselves, easy to use and at the same time inexpensive to manufacture. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an easy to operate, easy to manufacture locking mechanism for removably securing a pair of coaxially nested agitators in driving engagement and against actuaLdispIaCement with respect to one. another.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, a locking arrangement for removably securing together a dual agitator system in an automatic washing machine comprises a first agitator having an annular recess formed on one of its surfaces and a second agitator having resilient means with a detent at one end thereof, the detent to be received in the recess of the first agitator when the agitators are indexed coaxially with respect to each other The second agitator further includes abutment means which, in a first position with respect to the resilient means, permits the detent to deflect out of the annular recess, and, in a second position, engages the resilient means to prevent the detent from deflecting from the annular recess, thereby effectively securing the second agitator to the first agitator.

' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view, with portions broken away, of an automatic washing machine of the vertical axis type incorporating one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the locking mechanism of the present invention shown in the locked position;

FIG. 3 is a plan view, with portions broken away, of the locking mechanism of FIG. 2 shown in the locked position;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the locking mechanism of FIG. 2 shown in the unlocked position;

FIG. 5 is a plan view, with portions broken away, of the locking mechanism in the unlocked position;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view, partly in section and partially broken away, of an alternate embodiment of the present invention shown with the locking mechanism in the locked position-similar to that of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view, partly in section, and partially broken away, taken from that in FIG. 6, showing details of construction of the locking mechanism of the alternate embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional, side elevation view of a second alternate embodiment of the present invention shown with the lockingmechanism in a locked position, similar to that in FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional, side elevation view of the second embodiment of the present invention with the locking mechanism shown in the unlocked position and the outer agitator partially removed from the inner agitator;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken. line 11-11 of FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated schematically an automatic washing machine 10 of the vertical axis type utilizing the agitator locking arrangement of the present invention. Anagitator assembly 20 is disposed coaxially with a drive shaft 25 and is shown partly broken away to'reveal an inner gentle wash agitator 30 which is arranged in driving engagement at its upper end by conventional means (not shown), such as splines on the inner surface of the agitator 30 and on the outer surface of drive shaft 25. Theinner agitator 30 has a smooth tapered cylindrical center post 32 extending upwardly from an outwardly flared base skirt 34. Nestedly received over the gentle wash agitator 30 is a larger regular wash agitator 40 comprising a center post 42 and a flared base 44.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-5, the preferred embodiment of the locking means of the present invention, in one form thereof, will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, center post 32 of the inner agitator 30 is provided on its inner surface with a fluted portion 50 for engaging a mated fluted portion formed at the top of the shaft 25 (FIG. 1) for effecting driving engagement of inner agitator 30. Center post 42 of the outer agitator is provided at its top with a cylindrical portion 60 of reduced diameter which is supported from the center post 42 by a toroidal flange 62 and a plurality of webs 64 and which yields a cylindrical channel 65. The inner surface of the cylindrical portion 60 is provided with a fluted surface 66 which is complementary to a similar fluted surface 68 formed on the outer surface of the inner agitator center post 32 at the upper end thereof for coaxially indexing or properly locating the agitators with generally along the generally along the respect to each other to effect driving engagement of outer agitator 40.

As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of slots 70 are formed in the inner cylindrical portion 60 yielding therebetween resilient means such as a resilient finger 72 (FIG. 2). A similar resilient finger 74 is likewise formed on the cylindrical portion 60 diametrically opposite finger 72. Formed integrally with the upper free ends of the fingers 72 and 74 and extending inwardly from the inner surface of the cylindrical portion 60 are a pair of detents 76 and 78 respectively. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the entire outer agitator 40 including the center post 42, the inner cylindrical portion 60, the flange 62, webs 64 and the fingers 72 and 74 with detents 76 and 78 are formed as a unitary molded plastic member.

The upper portion 80 of center post 32 of inner agitator 30 is formed of reduced cross-section, and an agitator cap 82 having generally cylindrical side walls and a circular top is placed over the center post 32 and secured thereto by a screw 84. The lower edge of the cylindrical side wall of cap 82 is spaced from the larger diameter portion of the center post 32 adjacent the reduced diameter upper portion 80 so as to form an annular recess or groove 86. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, as the outer agitator 40 is lowered into position over inner agitator 30, the detents 76 and 78 on the resilient fingers 72 and 74 are deflected outwardly thereby sliding over the cylindrical side walls of agitator cap 82 as shown in FIG. 4. When the outer agitator 40 has been lowered to its operative position with respect to the inner agitator 30, that is coaxially indexed, detents 76 and 78 spring inwardly into annular groove 86 as shown in FIG. 2.

In accordance with the present invention means are provided for assuring that the detents 76 and 78 do not come out of annular groove 86 during operation of the automatic washer with the outer agitator in place. A principal member of this locking arrangement is a locking member 90 (FIG. 2) comprising a flat ringportion 92 from the top of which extends a pair of manual operatingtabs 94 (FIG. 4) and from the bottom of which extends abutment means such as a pair of abutments 96 projecting into cylindrical channel 65. The operation of the locking arrangement may best be understood by referring first to FIGS. 2 and 3 wherein is depicted locking member 90 in the locked position, and then to FIGS. 4 and wherein is shown the locking member 90 in the unlocked position. The locked and unlocked positions of the locking member 90 may be defined with respect to the location of the manual operating tabs 94 in a pair of arcuate slots 98 (only one of which is shown in FIGS. 3 and 5) formed in a retaining ring 100 which is placed over the end of the outer agitator center post 42 after the locking member 90 is positioned therein. Retaining ring 100 may be secured to the center post 42 in a suitable manner such as by screws (not shown). Referring then to FIGS. 3 and 5, the locked position of the locking member 90 is defined by rotating the manual operating tabs 94 to the end of their travel in a clockwise direction as limited by the engagement of the tabs 94 with the edge of the arcuate slot 98. Similarly, (as shown in FIG. 5) the unlocked position is defined by rotating locking member 90 to the limit of its travel in the counterclockwise direction.

With locking member 90 rotated by operation of the manual operating tabs 94 to the position shown in FIG.

3, the abutments 96 are positioned in channel 65 directly behind the free ends of the resilient fingers 72 and 74. In this position, the abutments 96 prevent fingers 72 and 74 from readily moving outward from the center post, thus holding the outer agitator 40 vertically in place on the inner agitator 30. When locking member is rotated by the manual operating tabs 94 to the position shown in FIG. 5, abutments 96 are moved from behind the fingers 72 and 74 such that, if an upward force is exerted on outer agitator 40, resilient fingers 72 and 74 will be deflected outwardly (as shown in FIG. 4) permitting removal of the outer agitator 40 from its position over the inner agitator 30.

As shown in FIG. 3, portions of retaining ring and the flat ring portion 92 of locking member 90 are broken away on each side of manual operating tabs 94 to reveal the cross-section of a positioning tab 102 projecting downwardly from the lower surface of the flat ring portions 92 into channel 65 in a manner similar to that of abutment 96. The purpose of positioning tabs 102 is to permit easy rotational movement of locking member 90 within cylindrical channel 65 and is not essential to the operation of locking member 90.

An alternate embodiment of this invention is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The construction of the inner agitator 30 including the annular groove 86 and the outer agitator 40 including the locking fingers 72 (not shown) and 74, is identical to those set forth in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2-5, and is therefore referenced with the same numerals. A manually axially movable locking ring 104 comprises a flat annular portion 106 having a skirt-108 projecting downwardly from the outside edge over the outer surface of the outer agitator 40. Extending downwardly from the flat annular portion 106 is a pair of diametrically opposed abutments 110, only one of which is shown in FIG. 6. The abutments 110 may actually be formed as a part of a cylindrical surface which, in a radial portion at least the width of the fingers 72 and 74, is formed with the depth shown for abutment 110 and which, for the remainder of the circumference, may be formed with the depth shown at 112 in FIG. 7. An aperture 114 is formed in the flat annular portion 106 opening into a slot 116 formed within the cylindrical portion of the ring extending to the depth 112. After the locking ring 104 is positioned on top of the outer agitator center post 42, a pair of U- shaped metal retaining clips 118 (only one of which is shown) is inserted through apertures 114 into the slots 116 to engage the outer surface of the inner cylindrical portion 60 and the inner surface of the center post 42 of the outer agitator 40. Upwardly sloping prongs 120 are formed in the U-shaped clips 118 to prevent the removal of the clips from the channel 65 of center post 42.

In this second embodiment of the invention, the axially movable locking ring 104 is raised upwardly with respect to the top edge of center post 42 until the webs 121 extending under the slots 116 engage the bottoms of the clips 118 thus placing abutments 110 above fingers 72 and 74. With the locking ring 104 in this position, fingers 72 and 74 may flex outwardly, allowing the outer agitator 40 to be lowered into position over the center post 32 of the inner agitator 30. When the inner and outer agitators are in the operative position as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, locking ring 104 is pushed axially downwardly into contact with the top edge of the outer agitator center post 42 as shown. In this position,

the locking abutments 110 are positioned behind the fingers 72and 74 in a manner similar to that shown in FIG. 2, thereby locking the detents 76 and 78 in the annular groove 86 formed in the center post 32 of inner agitator 30.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 8-11. In this third embodiment, the inner agitator 30 and the outer agitator 40 are constructed as first described with respect to the first embodiment, and therefore the same reference numerals are used for corresponding-elements. This third embodiment is similar to the second embodiment in that a single locking ring 122 is provided having a downwardly extending skirt 124 extending over the outer agitator center post 42. The manually rotatable locking ring 122 is formed with three resilient fingers 126 having retention tabs 128 at the free ends thereof, such that when the locking ring 122 is placed on top of the outer agitator center post 42, the retention tabs 128 will engage rectangular slots 130 formed in the wall of the center. post 42. The slots 130 are wider than the retention tabs 128, so as .to permit rotation of the locking ring 122 with respect to the center post 42. Similar to the locking ring 104 of the second embodiment, locking ring 122 is provided with abutments 132, three in number as shown in FIG. 9, corresponding to the three resilient fingers 72 provided in this embodiment, which, when positioned behind the fingers 72, prevent the detents 76 from moving out of the annular groove 86 of the center post 32 of the inner agitator 30. e

As shown in FIG. 10, with the locking ring 122 rotated counterclockwise to the position shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the locking abutments 132 are moved from behind the fingers 72 to permit the fingers to deflect outwardly so as to allow the removal of the outer agitator 40 from nested engagement with the inner agitator 30. With the locking ring 122 in this position (FIGS. 10 and 11), the outer agitator 40 may be placed over inner agitator 30 and lowered into its operative position. Locking ring 122 is then rotated clockwise, to the position shown in FIG. 9, whereby the locking abutments 132 are positioned behind the resilient fingers 72 to prevent displacement of the detents 76 from the annular groove 86, thereby securing the outer agitator 40.. to the inner agitator 30.

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments heretofore described are considered to be the presently preferred forms of this invention. In accordance with the Patent Statutes. changes may be made in the disclosed apparatus and the manner in which it is used without actually departing from the true spirit and scope of this invention.

For example, it has been considered that such a locking arrangement will function properly with the use of only one resilient finger with detent which may be locked in position such that the detent will stay in the annular groove to maintain locking engagement of the mating parts. Likewise, it has been considered that the resilient fingers with detent may be associated with the inner agitator such that the detent may be locked into an annulargroove formed on the inner surface of the outer agitator, with the locking abutment means being associated then with the inner agitator. It has also been considered that such a locking arrangement need'not be limited to a location at the upper end of the agitators.

What is claimed is:

. 1. In an automatic washing machine having a dual agitator system, a locking arrangement for removably securing together said agitator system comprising:

a. a first agitator having an annular recess formed on a surface thereof;

b. a second agitator having resilient means with a detent at one end thereof, said detent to be received in said recess of said first agitator when said agitators are indexed coaxially with respect to each other; and

c. said second agitator further having abutment means, which, in a first position with respect to the resilient means, permits said detent to deflect out of said recess, and, in a second position, engages said resilient means to prevent said detent from deflecting from said recess, thereby effectively securing said second agitator to said first agitator.

2. In an automatic washing machine having a drivingly engaged dual agitator system formed by coaxial arrangement of an outer agitator removably nested over an inner agitator, a locking arrangement for removably securing together said agitators comprising:

a. an annular recess formed on a surface of one of said agitators;

b. resilient means attached to the other of said agitators. the resilient means having a detent at the free end thereof. said detent to be received in said annular recess when said agitators are indexed coaxially with respect to each other; and

c. a locking member having abutment means, said member being manually rotatable with respect to said resilient means, in a first position to permit said detent to deflect out of said recess and in a second position, said abutment means to engage said resilient member to prevent said detent from deflecting from said recess. thereby effecting locking engagement of said agitators.

3. In an automatic washing machine of the vertical axis type having a rotationally drivingly engaged dual agitator system formed by coaxial arrangement of a normal-wash agitator removably nested over a gentlewash agitator, a locking arrangement for removably securing the normal-wash agitator to the gentle-wash agitator comprising:

a. an annular groove formed on the outer surface of the gentle-wash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof;

b. a pair of resilient fingers attached to the normalwash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof, the fingers being diametrically disposed and having detents at the free ends thereof, said detents to be received in the annular groove of the gentle-wash agitator when the agitators are indexed coaxially with respect to each other;

e. the normal-wash agitator having a locking member with abutments corresponding to said resilient fing'ers. said locking member being manually rotatable with respect to said fingers, in a first position to permit said detents to deflect out of said annular grooves to allow removal of the normal-wash agitator and in a second position said abutments to engage said fingers to prevent said detents from deflecting from said annular groove to effect locking engagement of said agitators; and

d. a retaining ring securely attached to the normalwash agitator for holding the locking member from axial displacement with respect to said agitator while allowing rotational movement of the locking member.

4. In an automatic washing machine of the vertical axis type having a rotationally drivingly engaged dual agitator system formed by coaxial arrangement of a normal-wash agitator removably nested over a gentlewash agitator, a locking arrangement for removably securing the normal-wash agitator to the gentle-wash agitator comprising:

a. an annular groove formed on the outer surface of the gentle-wash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof;

b. a pair of resilient fingers attached to the normalwash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof, the fingers being diametrically disposed and having detents at the free ends thereof, said detents to be received in the annular groove of the gentle-wash agitator when the agitators are indexed coaxially with respect to each other;

c. the normal-wash agitator having attached thereto a locking member with abutments corresponding to said resilient fingers, said locking member being manually axially movable with respect to said fingers, in a first position to permit said detents to deflect out of said annular grooves to allow removal of the normal-wash agitator and in a second position, said abutments to engage said fingers to prevent said detents from deflecting from said annular groove to effect locking engagement of said agitators.

5. In an automatic washing machine of the vertical axis type having a rotationally drivingly engaged dual agitator system formed by coaxial arrangement of a normal-wash agitator removably nested over a gentlewash agitator, a locking arrangement for removably securing the normal-wash agitator to the gentle-wash agitator comprising:

a. an annular groove formed on the outer surface of the gentle-wash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof;

b. three resilient fingers attached to the normal-wash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof, the fingers being equally spaced and having detents at the free ends thereof, said detents to be received in the annular groove of the gentle-wash agitator when the agitators are indexed coaxially with respect to each other;

0. the normal-wash agitator having a locking member with abutments corresponding to said resilient fingers, said locking member being secured against axial movement while manually rotatable with respect to said fingers, in a first position to permit said detents to deflect out of said annular grooves to allow removal of the normal-wash agitator and in a second position said abutments to engage said fingers to prevent said detents from deflecting from said annular groove to effect locking engagement of said agitators. 

1. In an automatic washing machine having a dual agitator system, a locking arrangement for removably securing together said agitator system comprising: a. a first agitator having an annular recess formed on a surface thereof; b. a second agitator having resilient means with a detent at one end thereof, said detent to be received in said recess of said first agitator when said agitators are indexed coaxially with respect to each other; and c. said second agitator further having abutment means, which, in a first position with respect to the resilient means, permits said detent to deflect out of said recess, and, in a second position, engages said resilient means to prevent said detent from deflecting from said recess, thereby effectively securing said second agitator to said first agitator.
 2. In an automatic washing machine having a drivingly engaged dual agitator system formed by coaxial arrangement of an outer agitator removably nested over an inner agitator, a locking arrangement for removably securing together said agitators comprising: a. an annular recess formed on a surface of one of said agitators; b. resilient means attached to the other of said agitators, the resilient means having a detent at the free end thereof, said detent to be received in said annular recess when said agitators are indexed coaxially with respect to each other; and c. a locking member having abutment means, said member being manually rotatable with respect to said resilient means, in a first position to permit said detent to deflect out of said recess and in a second position, said abutment means to engage said resilient member to prevent said detent from deflecting from said recess, thereby effecting locking engagement of said agitators.
 3. In an automatic washing machine of the vertical axis type having a rotationally drivingly engaged dual agitator system formed by coaxial arrangement of a normal-wash agitator removably nested over a gentle-wash agitator, a locking arrangement for removably securing the normal-wash agitator to the gentle-wash agitator comprising: a. an annular groove formed on the outer surface of the gentle-wash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof; b. a pair of resilient fingers attached to the normal-wash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof, the fingers being diametrically disposed and having detents at the free ends thereof, said detents to be received in the annular groove of the gentle-wash agitator when the agitators are indexed coaxially with respect to each other; c. the normal-wash agitator having a locking member with abutments corresponding to said resilient fingers, said locking member being manually rotatable with respect to said fingers, in a first position to permit said detents to deflect out of said annular grooves to allow removal of the normal-wash agitator and in a second position said abutments to engage said fingers to prevent said detents from deflecting from said annular groove to effect locking engagement of said agitators; and d. a retaining ring securely attached to the normal-wash agitator for holding the locking member from axial displacement with respect to said agitator while allowing rotational movement of the locking member.
 4. In an automatic washing machine of the vertical axis type having a rotationally drivingly engaged dual agitator system formed by coaxial arrangement of a normal-wash agitator removably nested over a gentle-wash agitator, a locking arrangement for removably securing the normal-wash agitator to the gentle-wash agitator comprising: a. an annular groove formed on the outer surface of the gentle-wash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof; b. a pair of resilient fingers attached to the normal-wash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof, the fingers being diametrically disposed and having detents at the free ends thereof, said detents to be received in the annular groove of the gentle-wash agitator when the agitators are indexed coaxially with respect to each other; c. the normal-wash agitator having attached thereto a locking member with abutments corresponding to said resilient fingers, said locking member being manually axially movable with respect to said fingers, in a first position to permit said detents to deflect out of said annular grooves to allow removal of the normal-wash agitator and in a second position, said abutments to engage said fingers to prevent said detents from deflecting from said annular groove to effect locking engagement of said agitators.
 5. In an automatic washing machine of the vertical axis type having a rotationally drivingly engaged dual agitator system formed by coaxial arrangement of a normal-wash agitator removably nested over a gentle-wash agitator, a locking arrangement for removably securing the normal-wash agitator to the gentle-wash agitator comprising: a. an annular groove formed on the outer surface of the gentle-wash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof; b. three resilient fingers attached to the normal-wash agitator at the uppermost portion thereof, the fingers being equally spaced and having detents at the free ends thereof, said detents to be received in the annular groove of the gentle-wash agitator when the agitators are indexed coaxially with respect to each other; c. the normal-wash agitator having a loCking member with abutments corresponding to said resilient fingers, said locking member being secured against axial movement while manually rotatable with respect to said fingers, in a first position to permit said detents to deflect out of said annular grooves to allow removal of the normal-wash agitator and in a second position said abutments to engage said fingers to prevent said detents from deflecting from said annular groove to effect locking engagement of said agitators. 